Nasdaq on track for best daily rise in nearly a year as technology sector powers record rally

The Nasdaq Composite Index was on pace to book its best single-session rise since the day before President Donald Trump was elected back in November. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.85% was surging 104 points, or 1.6%, toward a fresh all-time high closing at 6,664.04, which would mark the best point and percentage gain since a 119.80-point, or 2.4%, climb for the technology-heavy index on Nov. 7, 2016, according to FactSet data. The Nasdaq is marching toward its best gain in nearly a year on the back of a series of hotter-than-expected earnings from some of the biggest companies in technology, including Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +6.96% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +12.19% which were both trading at record highs after posting quarterly results that surpassed analysts' estimates. Meanwhile, a popular way to invest on the tech sector, the exchange-traded Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF XLK, +2.46% was on pace to book its best daily climb since March 1, 2016. Elsewhere, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.71% was up 0.7% at 2,576, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.16% was trading up 25 points, or 0.1%, at 23,422, as shares of Chevron Corp. CVX, -2.56% and Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, -4.63% capped the blue-chip benchmark's gains.